


Auspicious Day

by DJClawson



Series: Wait, Danny's a Buddhist? [2]
Category: Daredevil (TV), Iron Fist (TV), The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: Buddhism, Buddhist Danny, Can read as Pre-Slash if you want, Catholicism, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, No he's actually very Buddhist, So he's basically an OC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-19 09:29:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13120917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DJClawson/pseuds/DJClawson
Summary: Danny is lonely and needy, but it's not all bad. For one thing, he always picks up the tab.





	Auspicious Day

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AllisonDiamond](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllisonDiamond/gifts).



> This is a fill of the following prompt: "I especially love the dynamic between Matt/Danny. I'd like a hurt/comfort fic in where Matt is near-death and Danny has to heal him with his chi. Or maybe a fic in where Matt calls Danny out of his stupidity, and Danny in turn, calls Matt out of his, because they are both so dumb, Danny more but. I especially love hurt comfort, fluff, romance, friendship/love, dumb boys in love, etc.”

“Why do you have books on your shelf?”

“What?” Matt pulled one earbud out of his ear as he paused the recording of the deposition, but left the other one hanging.

“Your law books,” Danny said, gesturing to the loaded bookcase. “Can you read them?”

From anyone else, Matt would have took it in a harsher way, but the edges around just about whatever Danny said that wasn’t about the Hand or his mission as the Immortal Iron Fist were always soft. He talked like a curious child, and Matt actually found it sort of invigorating. Maybe that was why he was essentially asked to babysit him, more or less, because Luke was busy (and Matt did not ask what the unemployed Luke Cage, currently dating Claire Temple, meant when he said he was busy in the middle of the day and Claire was working nights), Colleen was out of town, and Jessica was somewhere, presumably passed out. It started with some texts in the morning asking what a podcast was, and ended with Danny offering to take Matt out to lunch, which he didn’t turn down because it probably meant a tasting menu.

“No,” Matt said, already giving up on his focus. Danny said he would wait in the new office (which was more like an old cupboard in terms of size and renovation), but for Danny that meant spinning around in the Goodwill office chair that had a squeak in it Matt suspected only he could hear. “I can read some books. It depends if they use laser printing or not, and the weight of the ink. But it takes so long to figure out what each letter is that Braille is just faster.”

“Then why – ”

“This is a lawyer’s office,” he explained. “People want to see sets of law books on the shelves. It’s what the clients expect. And I like the smell of old books.”

“Has anyone ever opened them?”

“Foggy and I bought a set on eBay when we graduated,” Matt said. “We split them between our offices. So it’s not even a full set. But no. We just Google everything now.”

“Can you get them in Braille?”

“I never looked. Braille books are long and heavy. It would take up ... all of the walls, probably, and then some, for a set like that.”

“I have a plant in my office,” Danny said, because this was the sort of thing Danny said. “Madame Gao gave it to me. She told me to water it?”

“Did you check it for listening devices?”

“This was right after I got the company back. I didn’t know anyone in it except the Meachums and she had a whole floor for her – whatever she was doing. Operations. So I guess I didn’t think about it, because I was trying to figure out who she was.” Again, it sounded like a Danny thing to do. “She said she’s killed other Iron Fists.”

“Um.” Matt thought carefully to what he was going to say to that, but didn’t come up with anything brilliant. “A member of the Hand had an office in your building?”

“She had the whole floor. And okay, yeah, I was really stupid. But I didn’t know she was the Hand, and I didn’t know she was controlling Rand through Harold Meachum. And we kicked her out, right after we figured all of this out. Ward purged all of the little corporations from the building.” Danny leaned back, which he could do pretty easily in that chair. It was really falling apart, and with Danny’s treatment death would come soon. He was also barefoot. “I think someone watered the plant when I was gone, because it’s still alive.”

Matt had never been in Danny’s office, but he figured it was the type of place that had a janitorial staff. “Good?”

“Do you want a plant?”

“I do not want a plant,” Matt said very firmly. “Does it look like I have room for a plant?”

“I could give you an office,” Danny offered, and his offer was probably dangerously real. “You could open up shop at Rand.”

Matt smiled. “I think this office lets clients know what they’re getting into.”

“You have a bookcase of books you will never read.”

“It lets them know that I know how eBay works,” Matt said. “And that I’ll probably be affordable, which is what they’re looking for. Some people are too intimidated about running up fees to ask for help.” He knew that from the number of people who paused in the hallway in front of the door, working up the courage to go in. “Do you mind if I take five to finish – “

“Sure, sure,” Danny said, and picked up his book. There was the crinkle of the plastic wrapper and the faint smell of smoke from one of its former users, so it was definitely a library book, which meant Luke gave it to him (or no one had showed Danny how Amazon worked yet).

But it was hopeless for Matt to regain the focus  needed for the complex line of questioning he was trying to follow, and he gave up after a few minutes. Also, Danny’s smelly feet distracted him. “What are you reading?”

Danny flipped the book so the front was up. “ _Between the World and Me_ by Ta-Nehisi ... Coates?” he said, pronouncing it “coats” like the jacket. “It’s about, um, black bodies being attacked, but in like, the poetic sense? I don’t totally get it.”

“It’s probably also literal.”

“Yeah, he talks about police shootings. I sort of want to ask Luke what he’s trying to say, but …” He shrugged. “I don’t want to sound stupid.”

Well there about a million things Matt could do with that, but he decided not to. Maybe that was why he was always getting Danny duty. “You don’t sound stupid by asking questions. You sound stupid when you make assumptions about the answers head of time. Or, that’s what I was taught. I don’t get to read as much as I’d like. It’s too hard to get the books in Braille and the audiobooks are slower than my reading speed. You’re stuck with the pace the reader sets.” He’d tried speeding them up, but it made their voices sound squeaky. “But I heard it’s a good book.”

“My mom used to read to the blind.”

“People still do that. Volunteers.” He didn’t say, bored rich housewives. “But with audiobooks and screen readers, everything’s much different. More accessible. And you don’t have to go through the frustration of sitting through a reading of a book you don’t like because it would be rude to leave.”

Belatedly, he added. “Sorry. If that was offense to your mom. I’m sure she was very nice.”

“Maybe she read to you.”

“I could see until I was nine,” Matt said. “But, maybe. I don’t remember every volunteer. You want to go to lunch?”

“ _Yes_.”

“You don’t always have to pay.”

“Ward said I should try buying lunches instead of buildings,” Danny said. “Do you mind if we go vegetarian?”

“You’re vegetarian?”

“On the first and the fifteenth of the month,” Danny said. “They’re considered auspicious dates to refrain from eating flesh.”

“Well, when you put it that way,” Matt said, preferring not to think of meat as ‘flesh.’

The place was actually vegan. They were lying about being farm-to-table but most of their other promises were true. It meant unpolished wooden tables that were way too tall for any kind of chairs but stools, soy sauce served in improbably-sized mason jars, and edible plates. The waiter needed to be less “rustic” when it came to washing his hands and a lot of the meal was spent having the dishes explained to them, but the food was clean and good, nothing like the greasy takeout he might have eaten otherwise.  

“You don’t have to babysit me,” Danny said. “You know that, right?”

“I’m just here for the free food.” Which was true. That and Danny was so high-energy, it could be a bit of a pick-up. “But I can jingle my keys if you want.”

“I’m just so used to living with other people and knowing everybody I run into,” Danny admitted. “The only time I was alone before I came to New York was when I was sent to meditate in a cave, and someone checked on me.”

“What kind of trouble could you get into in a cave?”

“You could go crazy. Or die of hypothermia. It’s not as romantic as all of these New Age magazines make it out to be.”

“You read New Age magazines?”

“They’re always calling for interviews. Apparently there’s a lot of billionaires who became monks and wrote books about it. I’m the only one who’s the other way around.”

“Do they know about the dragon?”

“His name is Shou-Lao the Undying.”

“Does he have Facebook? It helps me keep track of people,” Matt said, imagining Danny’s expression.

“They don’t know about the dragon.”

“I thought you told _everyone_ you’re the Immortal Iron Fist.”

“Next time we’re eating at Subway,” Danny said. “And you’re buying.” But he softened quickly. Danny always did. “These interviewers don’t like it when I correct their pronunciation of the names of their magazines.”

“In general, people prefer that you not tell them they’re wrong. Even in the best of circumstances.” Though he could imagine Danny doing it in a way that could only convey polite innocence. “That’s what I’ve figured out, anyway.”

Matt smiled. “Some people never figure it out.”

Danny chuckled as he paid the bill. He seemed relieved, more than anything. Matt wondered how many of his interactions were stressful for him. Danny was often exuberant – until he was crushed by his ignorance about some topic or other being revealed. The Defenders never did it in a mean way (well, Jessica did, but she did that to everyone), but there had to be people in Danny’s life who did. The corporate world was at cutthroat as any law firm.

As they stood outside waiting for a cab, Matt put his head down and said, “I know what it’s like to feel alone.”

“What?”

“After my dad died, I went to live in an orphanage. I had my own room because of my disability, but it’s not like I couldn’t hear everyone else all of the time. And then I went straight to college, and lived with Foggy. I didn’t have my own place until I took the bar,” he explained. “People think that I can’t make it on my own, that I need a helper, like a dog or something, so I was proud. But I didn’t have anyone to be proud to. Foggy knew I would be okay and I didn’t really have anyone else in my life.” He played with the plastic loop of his cane. “Even when I lived with other kids, I was still an orphan. So it’s kind of like – feeling alone and being surrounded at the same time, but one doesn’t cancel the other out.”

Danny paused for a while before nodding. “I didn’t know about the orphanage.”

“Was that why you ended up in a monastery?”

“It wasn’t all orphans. There’s a tradition – if you have two sons, you should give one to the monastery, so he has a chance at Enlightenment, and you get the merit of having done it. But me, they just didn’t know what to do with me otherwise. Most of them had never seen a white person before.”

Matt was about to take a step but he froze. “Wait – you’re white?”

“Uh, yeah?” Danny replied incredulously. “My name is Danny?”

“I know Asian people with American names,” Matt said a little too defensively for his comfort. “I thought – because you were in China – “

“Tibet. And I went there _on a trip_. Dude, I’m from Gramercy Park.” Danny was definitely smiling. It was always easy to tell when he was, even though Matt usually couldn’t determine facial expressions. “You really didn’t – “

“It isn’t something I can figure out.” Matt was blushing down to his neck. “And I know better than to guess from a voice. I just assumed – I didn’t really put it together. And no one told me.” He buried his face in his hands. “Is Colleen – “

“Colleen is Chinese-American,” Danny said. “And Luke is black – “

“I know that. I knew that. A black man gets shot by the police and lives, and it makes the news.” And he really wanted to just sink into the sidewalk right now. So many things were making sense. “Please don’t tell anyone.”

“Okay,” Danny said. He wasn’t lying, but he was getting a kick out of this conversation. “For the record, Jessica’s white, Misty’s black, and Claire is – I think she’s – what’s the thing where she’s multiple things?”

“Mixed race.”

“I think she’s mixed race. Like black and Hispanic? I might not have these terms right, and I know it’s important to get terms right. But I haven’t asked her.”

“Don’t.” He hadn’t guessed anything about Claire, but only because he didn’t picture people in colors anymore. Claire was just ... Claire. “And really, please, promise not to tell anyone.”

“Promise,” Danny replied. “And I’m blond, by the way. People in Kun’lun used to call me ‘hairy monkey man.’”

“Behind your back?”

“I liked to think of it as a term of endearment. And I was very hairy.” He put a hand on Matt’s back. “Your secret is safe with me.”

 _So_ many things Luke had said in passing made more sense now. Matt needed time to process this.

“You really _don’t_ have to babysit me,” Danny repeated. “If you need to get back to work, that’s fine. But if you don’t – Okay, I don’t want to sound patronizing before I say this, but I’m going to say it anyway, and just punch me if I’m not correct about stuff.”

“Okay.”

“I have to go to the Rubin Museum on 17th Street later today. I promised them I would help them translate some manuscripts. And there’s an exhibit there on sound in Buddhist thought or something. It’s probably _partially_ visual, but it’s – well, I thought you might like it.”

No, it was not patronizing. Sort of. Matt was more than willing to give him a pass on this one, even if it had been. “Manuscripts?”

Danny shrugged. “They just brought some things out of storage and apparently there’s not a ton of people who are fluent in 14th century Sanskrit. There’s a specialized research center at Columbia for Tibetan literature but I’m a faster reader than them, so they asked me to do it.” He added, “I am capable of making _some_ friends on my own.”

“I never doubted you were.” Matt just hadn’t given much thought to it. “So that’s what you were reading in Kun’lun?”

“Kun’lun only makes contact with earth every 15 years, so it’s culturally a little ... behind. Everyone says my accent is really weird and my vocabulary is outdated.”

“What are the manuscripts about?”

“It’s usually teachings of the Buddha. And prayers. That sort of thing. Poetic language. I can show you – okay, not show – “

“I know what you mean,” Matt said. “Sure. Let’s go.”

Danny was so excitable that it was refreshing – or exhausting, depending on one’s mood. Matt had definitely experienced both, but he was less inclined to show it than the others. Danny liked making people happy. He also liked taking the subway, which was just an awful experience that Matt spent a good chunk of his hard-earned money avoiding, but Matt didn’t say anything about it. He also managed to make it through the whole trip without touching the poles, handlebars, or seats.

The museum smelled like a museum for the most part – aging metal and worn stone, natural pigments on old glued canvases, and the vague, unavoidable smell of rot behind glass. The Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art did offer tours for the blind. They required calling ahead to have the trained guide came in, but Danny being Danny, the staff decided to put in some calls while Matt listened to Mongolian throat-chanting on heavy headphones in front of a canvas that he was informed was made from yak skin glue. The guide arrived, and took him through an abbreviated version of the museum, which wasn’t that large to begin with.

When Matt re-found Danny, he was in the back part of the museum not open to visitors. There were ordinary tables and chairs but Danny was seated on a cushion on the floor, with long strips of canvas on the stool in front of him, and an assistant with a laptop at his side. His demeanor had shifted entirely. His back was perfectly straight and his voice had all of the severity that appeared when he discussed the Hand, or his destiny, or some battle he had to fight, only now his immense concentration went into a reading of the text set to a completely foreign tone. After what seemed like a very long time he would pause and say, “Okay, so this is going on about how the Tara is like a blue-green lotus. So I would read it as – “ His voice was never commanding, like it could be when he was trying to impart to someone about how important the Iron Fist was. He was polite and patient with the museum translator, but he was serious about his work. There was a lot of imagery with flowers and rainbows, some things about removing demons, and the rest of it, Matt couldn’t even begin to follow, but Danny’s confidence made it all sound perfectly logical, even cursory.

Matt had not been there long before the assistant began to flag, and Danny called for a break even though he seemed to have plenty of stamina.

“This is impressive,” Matt said when the assistant was gone.

“It’s not a skill I thought the Iron Fist would need,” Danny said. “He’s a guardian. A warrior. But I didn’t just train to be the Iron Fist. That wasn’t my whole day. If I hadn’t fought Shou-Lao, I’d still be reading sutra all day. And everyone in Kun’lun would still be alive.”

“You don’t know that they’re dead,” Matt said, even though he really had no idea. He was very unclear on all of this. “You don’t know for sure. And didn’t you train with other people? If they’re half as good as you, they can probably fend for themselves.”

Danny didn’t sound convinced. He fumbled with the edge of the unbound text. The canvas was heavy and smelled of incense and animals. “I thought about going back, you know. There’s temples right here in the city. Even just sitting as a monk, I gain more merit than by leading a secular life. And I don’t think the Rand Corporation would miss me. But Colleen would.”

“We would,” Matt responded, without hesitation. Not that he thought anyone would have, not even Jessica. “I think Luke would be heartbroken.”

“I wouldn’t be far. Brooklyn. Maybe Queens.”

“Like any of us would ever leave Manhattan,” Matt said. He was surprised that Danny must have looked into it. “You can go as far as Chinatown, but that’s it.”

Danny smiled. Jessica said Danny smiled, “like the fucking sun.” Matt didn’t doubt it. “Besides,” Matt added, “I think Colleen would have some words about your career path.”

“Yeah.” Danny laughed. “Did you ever consider it?”

“Consider what?”

“Becoming a priest? You’re religious.”

“Oh, no. Catholicism isn’t as big on letting you punch people.”

“It’s building physical and mental discipline. Training your mind for Enlightenment.”

Matt nodded. “Right.” He unfolded his cane as the assistant curator returned. “Give me a call if you, uh, get enlightened.”

“It’s not all punching dragons, you know! This is a comprehensive belief system!” Danny shouted at his back, then said to the assistant curator. “Did I tell you that I’m the Immortal Iron Fist?”

Safely in the lobby, Matt checked his messages.

“ _Hope you managed_ ,” Luke Cage said robotically from the text-to-speech function. “ _Period. Winking emoticon_.”

“Yes,” he said to his dictation software. “I did just fine.”

 

The End


End file.
